Tigres de Cartagena

Tigres de Cartagena
Information
League	Colombian Professional Baseball League
Location	Cartagena, Colombia
Ballpark	Estadio Once de Noviembre
Founded	1994
Latin American Series championships	2014
League championships	6 (1995-96, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2013-14)
Colors	Red, White
Ownership	Team Rentería USA [1] [2]
President	Nabil Baladi
Manager	Jhonatan Solano
Current uniforms
Home Away

The Tigres de Cartagena (Cartagena Tigers) are a baseball team in the Colombian Professional Baseball League (LPB), playing in the Caribbean city of Cartagena de Indias. The team was founded in 1996 and plays at the Estadio Once de Noviembre. Its main rival is Caimanes, which plays in neighboring Barranquilla. ^[3]

Several Colombian MLB players have played for Tigres, including Gio Urshela, Harold Ramírez, Meibrys Viloria, and brothers Jolbert and Orlando Cabrera. For a time, the team was managed by former MLB All-Star Bill Madlock. ^[4]

In 2014, the team made history by winning the first international club title for Colombia, defeating Mexico's Brujos de Los Tuxtlas in the Latin American Series. ^[5]

History

Tigres were founded by Orlando Vélez Benedetti in 2003. ^[6] The team reached its first title in the 1995-96 season, under the management of Jolbert Cabrera Sr., and with his two sons Jolbert and Orlando on the roster.

Édinson Rentería, brother of Barranquilla-born major leaguer Édgar Rentería, bought the team in 2003. ^[6] Tigres again won the championship in the 2003-04 season, under the direction of Bill Madlock (a previous four-time batting champion in LPB), beating Leones de Cartagena in the final play off. They repeated this feat in 2004-05, 2005-06, and 2006-07, defeating Caimanes de Barranquilla in three straight finals.

Tigres would not win another title until 2013-14. Afterwards, the team made history by winning the first title of the Latin American Series for Colombian baseball, defeating Brujos de Los Tuxtlas of Mexico's Veracruz Winter League in the final play-off by 9-1.

Tigres did not play in the 2016-17 tournament, when they were replaced by Indios de Cartagena, but returned in the 2017-18 season.

Under Rentería's ownership, the management of the team has been periodically leased out to other ownership groups. In 2025, the management group was criticized for failing to pay the team's players on time, as many reported not having received their salaries months after the season's end. ^{[7] [6]} Also in 2025, it was reported that a group of Cartagena businessmen were interested in purchasing the team from Rentería, which would be the first local ownership in nearly two decades. ^[6]

Notable players

• Orlando Cabrera
• Jolbert Cabrera
• Jhonatan Solano
• Gio Urshela
• Guillermo Zuñiga
• Meibrys Viloria
• Adrián Sánchez

References

1. "Tigres de Cartagena". Team Renteria USA.
2. ""Estamos tratando de mantener el béisbol vivo": Édinson Rentería" (in Spanish). Zona Cero. 24 October 2023.
3. "¿A los puños? Así fue le tenso momento del partido entre Tigres y Caimanes" (in Spanish). El Universal. 16 November 2022.
4. "BEISBOL. TIGRES, CAMPEÓN PROFESIONAL:". February 4, 2004 (in Spanish). El Tiempo.
5. "Colombia, campeón de la II Serie Latinoamericana de Béisbol" (in Spanish). El Universal. February 2, 2014.
6. "Grupo de empresarios cartageneros contempla la compra de los Tigres" (in Spanish). El Heraldo. 11 April 2025. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
7. "Video: peloteros de Tigres, algunos Grandes Ligas, reclaman sus pagos". El Universal. 28 March 2025. Retrieved 26 April 2025.